This invention relates to the activity of pumpkin carving, as occurs in the United States at Halloween when jack-o""-lanterns are created from pumpkins. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved method, apparatus, and kit involving the use of a cutting die, a striking tool, and a scoop and scraping tool for creating cut-out designs in the shell of a pumpkin.
Pumpkin carving is usually associated with the holiday of Halloween. Scary, unusual or artistic faces or designs are carved into and through the shell of a pumpkin. The carved pumpkin is then placed in a prominent location and a candle or other light source is placed inside of the pumpkin so that the carved design may be highlighted and seen and enjoyed at night.
The traditional method of carving a pumpkin involves cutting a hole or lid in the top of the pumpkin with a knife or tool. The lid is then removed and the pumpkin seeds and fiber material within the hollow interior are removed, either by hand or with a spoon. A face or design is then carved into the shell of the pumpkin using a knife, saw or other tool.
There are a number of difficulties associated with this traditional method of pumpkin carving. The shell of the pumpkin may be thick and tough, making it difficult to carve. Some people, especially children, do not have the strength or manual dexterity required to manipulate the cutting tool into and through the shell. The force required may be so great that control over the cutting tool will be momentarily lost, resulting in a cracked pumpkin shell or an inadvertent cut in the shell at an undesired location. It is also difficult to remove the pumpkin seeds and fiber material within the interior of the pumpkin. Finally, it is sometimes difficult to think of and cut new or interesting designs into the pumpkin shell.
One alternative to the traditional method of pumpkin carving involves the use of cookie cutter-like cutting dies to form the cut-out shapes, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,659. The dies may take a variety of different shapes such as the traditional jack-o""-lantern eyes, nose, and mouth. The dies typically have a side wall with a cutting edge and a striking edge. Impact force is applied to the striking edge to drive the cutting edge into and through the shell. The die is held with one hand in position on the pumpkin shell with the cutting edge touching the shell. The other hand wields a hammer or other impact-inducing device to strike the striking edge. After the die is started into the shell, continued impacts drive the die into the pumpkin shell until the die cuts through the shell and creates a hole in the shell in the shape of the die.
Striking the die in the manner required can be awkward and difficult. Many people have difficulty in coordinating the hammer movement with the position of the die and the location of the striking edge. The hammer may miss the die completely, or impact the die with a deflecting blow and crack or damage the shell of the pumpkin. Damaging the shell of the pumpkin becomes more likely as the die is driven deeper into the shell. If the die is not driven uniformly into the shell of the pumpkin, the die may become canted or misaligned, making the penetration more difficult, damaging the shape formed, or increasing the risk of cracking the shell.
A block of wood may be placed over the striking edge to distribute the force from the hammer evenly over the striking edge of the die, as well as to provide a larger striking surface. Use of a force-distributing wood block requires the die and wood block to be held in one hand while the other hand manipulates the hammer. Holding the three tools (die, wood block and hammer) with two hands increases the amount of physical coordination required to the point of being difficult or impossible. It is virtually impossible to hold the die in the desired initial position so the first blows can be struck if the wood block is also employed. If the wood block is not employed to start the penetration of the die, the uneven force distribution from impacts at localized positions along the striking edge may start the die into the shell unevenly, thereby causing canting, misalignment and damage to the shell, even if the wood block is later used to distribute the impact force over the entire striking edge. Once the die has been started into the shell, there is no longer any need to hold it in position, but the wood block and the hammer must still be held.
Another previously known method of carving a pumpkin involves using a hollow die element with an open end that has a sharp cutting edge and a handle at an opposite end. A person grips the handle and pushes the sharp open end into the shell of the pumpkin. The handle is then used to pull the die from the pumpkin leaving a hole in the shell the shape of the die element. The cut-out pumpkin piece remains in the die and is removed by pushing the piece out from an access slot formed in the die. While this technique avoids some of the problems associated with coordinating and striking the die element, it increases the cost of the die and the amount of physical coordination and strength required to use the die. Since the die is forced through the pumpkin shell by manual force, rather than impacts, considerable strength may be required to push the die through the shell.
It is in response to this and other background information, as well as the desire to simplify and to make more enjoyable the activity of carving pumpkins into jack-o""-lanterns, that the present invention has emerged.
One aspect of the present invention relates to an inexpensive, pumpkin-carving cutting die element. The cutting die has one continuous wall which forms the outline of the shape which is to be cut into the pumpkin. The cutting die may assume many different shapes, but preferably the shapes are in some way related to the holiday of Halloween since the invention will be used primarily during that holiday. The upper portion of a wall of the die has a striking edge which protects the die from deformation due to striking and promotes its uniform penetration into the pumpkin shell. The lower portion of the wall has a number of serrations which allow the die to be relatively easily and manually pressed into and affixed in an initial position on the pumpkin shell without impacting the die. The serrations are preferably dull to avoid injury to the user but have a curvature which promotes manual penetration. Once manually affixed to the shell in the initial position, the die can be safely and easily driven into the pumpkin with a striking tool.
A further aspect of the present invention relates to a simplified method of cutting or carving designs in the shell of a pumpkin. The steps of the method include placing the serrated edge of a cutting die in contact with the outer surface of the pumpkin shell, forcing the die against the pumpkin shell to pierce the shell of the pumpkin with at least some of the serrations to hold the cutting die in place on the pumpkin shell, driving the cutting die into the pumpkin shell with impacts from a striking tool whose striking surface is generally larger than the majority of any lateral dimension of the cutting die, and removing the die and the cut-out portion of the pumpkin shell from the pumpkin. Other preferable steps of the method include scooping the contents from the interior of the pumpkin with a scoop and scraping tool, and scraping the interior wall of the pumpkin shell with the tool to reduce the wall thickness of the pumpkin shell to a thickness which is less than the height of the wall of the cutting die. Scraping the interior wall of the pumpkin to reduce the shell thickness assures that the cutting die will penetrate the shell. Reducing the thickness of the shell also reduces the risk of inadvertent damage to the shell which may occur from attempting to drive the cutting die through a shell which is too thick for the cutting die.
An additional aspect of the present invention relates to a pumpkin carving kit which includes all of the tools necessary to quickly and safely carve interesting designs in the shell of a pumpkin, in one convenient assembly. The kit contains one or more pumpkin cutting dies of the type discussed above, a striking tool, and a combination scoop and scraping tool.
The combination scoop and scraping tool of the kit comprises a handle and a scoop, both of which are of a size and configuration that may be handled and manipulated within the pumpkin shell relatively easily. The scoop also includes an integrated cutting edge which extends along an outer edge of the scoop. The scoop portion of the scoop and scraping tool easily removes the seeds from the interior of the pumpkin, and its cutting edge is used to scrape the inner walls of the pumpkin to a desired thickness to accommodate the best use of the die.
The striking tool included in the kit comprises a handle portion and a head portion. The head portion has a striking surface which is sized to contact the majority of any lateral dimension of the striking edge of the cutting die and preferably the entire upper striking edge of the cutting die. When the striking surface of the head portion comes in contact with the striking edge of the cutting die, an even distribution of force is applied to the cutting die, thus producing a more uniform cut and driving the cutting die into the pumpkin shell directly and uniformly without tilting and canting. The relatively large shape of the head portion also reduces the risk that a missed impact will occur causing damage to the pumpkin shell, such as may occur when a conventional hammer is used. The relatively large size of the head portion also facilitates contact with the cutting die.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and its scope can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are briefly summarized below, and by reference to the appended claims.